Wire-supporting device.



R. H. UHRBROCK.

WIRE SUPPORTING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED mm. 1914.

Ru 1 9 1 A 1 0 e D d e t n e t a D1 wi/limwoao CULu-niim PLANOGRAMI co., WASHINGTON, B4 c.

RICHARD H. UHEBROGK, 0F 'iowsoiv, MARYLAND.

WIRE-SUPPORTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letterslatent.

Patented Dee. ML, 1915.

Application filed April 6, 1914. Serial No. 829,983.

0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, RICHARD H. III-1R- BROOK, a citizen of the United States, res1d ing at Towson, in the county of Baltlmore, and State of Maryland, have invented new and useful improvements in Wire-Supporting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wire supporting devices, and it has for its object to provide a supporting device of simple, lnexpensive and effective construction which may be usefully employed in the construction of fences and wherever it shallbe desirable to stretch wires and to support the same rigidly against longitudinal displace1nent.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and useful construction and combination of wire supporting and securing elements whereby the supported Wires will be not merely suspended but held rigidly against longitudinal displacement at the supported point. i

A further object of the invention'is to provide a construction which will serve to retain the supportedwires rigidly in ad usted position, but which will also readlly permit of loosening the wires in order that they may be stretched or readjusted when necessar Il ith these and other ends in view which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully descr bed and particularly pointed out in the clanns.

In the accompanying drawing has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhiblted, but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawing,-Fig. 1 is a side view showing a simple and preferred form of the invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side view illustrating a modification. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a further modification.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.

The device in its most simple and preferred form consists of a metallic plate 15 having at its lower edge a T-slot 16, the

shank portion of which will permit the in sertion of a wire. This T slot is formed relatively near what may be regarded as the outer end of the plate.

\Vhen the device is to be used in connection with a wooden post, the plate may be tapered to a point, as shown at 17, and it may be provided near its outer end with a shoulder 18 to permit it to be readily driven into such post. The head portion of the T-slot 16 is beveled at the outer end thereof to present a downwardly and outwardly inclined wall 19. This form of the device may be driven into a wooden post or it may be embedded in a post of cement or con crete, the outer face of such post being indicated by the line 20. To support a wire, such wire, shown at 21, will be inserted into the T-slct 16 and moved into engagement with the rear or inner wall of the head portion of said slot, after which a wedge 22 will be driven in the head portion of the T-slot, one face of said wedge engaging the wire, and the other face engaging the beveled or inclined outer wall 19.

It is obvious that when a wedge is driven such wedge being of rectangular cross sectio1i,'one corner of such wedge will engage the upper edge extremity of said inclined wall, the lower portion of said wall being free from direct tension exerted by the driving of the wedge. Hence the leverage exerted by the driving of the wedge is such that there will be little or no tendency of the shankportion of the T-slot to open up, whereby the device would gradually be weakened and the wedge would become loose. ()n the contrary the tendency of the wedge is to exert a lateral stress against the material of the supporting member, the tendency of which would be to close the side walls of the shank portion of the T-slot together, thereby gripping the wedge and making a secure and permanent support. When thus clamped and held, it is evident that the wire will be held rigidly against longitudinal displacement.

In Figs. 3 and a there is shown a supporting device which is especially intended and adapted to be used in connection with con crete posts where wires may be strung on either or both sides. In this case, the body portion of the supporting device, here designated by 28, is made of sufficient length to extend through the post, the opposite faces driven from opposite. sides.

of which are indicated at 24. Each projecting end of the plate. .23 has a T-slot 24: in-

the underside thereof, the head portion of said slot having an inclined outer Wall 25. In this case the Wires 21 are supported in like manner, as in Figs. land 2, except that support intact.

Under the construction shown in Fig. 5, a supporting plate 28 dovetailed into a post 29 has a T-slot 30, the shank of which opens in a forward direction for the insertion of a wire 21 which is retained by two wedges 31, 32 driven in opposite directions.

' It is usually of prime importance in structures, such as fences, embodying a plurality of stretched wires, that such Wires should be supported as rigidly as possible. Unless this is the case, in fences for instance, the rubbing or pushing of animals against the fence Wires will enable the latter to be spaced widely apart at points intermediate the supports, thus enabling animals to pass -with absolute rigidity at the supported points, preventing longitudinal displacement and consequent sagging or spacing apart of the wlres to an appreciable or 111- jurious extent. 3

Having thus described theinvention, what is claimed as new, is 2-- 1. In a wire support, a supporting member having a slot for the admission of the wire, and means including two opposed wedges for holding the wire in rigid engagement with one wall of the slot.

2. In a wire support, a supporting member having a T-slot extending upwardly from the lower edge thereof, the head portion of said T-slot having an outwardly inclined outer wall, a wire engaging the opposite wall of the head portion of the slot, and means for securing the wire including a wedge that engages the edge portion of the corner at the inner end of the outwardly inc%ined outer wall of the head portion of the s 0t.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature v Witnesses B. WHEELER SWEANY, CHARLES C. PLrrT.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

